Tastings Journal

Some spam that I received, sounds like it could be fun!

This month we are going to do something a little different – I want to change things up a little for the summer, light and breezy. Its not a full dinner, but we are offering 5 Wines and 5 specially paired tapas dishes. The food will be amazing and the wines are French (BASTILLE DAY!!) and are all rated 93 and above by Wine Spectator ™ This is a ONE DAY event, Friday July 14th.

We had such a tremendous response to the amazing service that Kolumbia Restaurant provided last month, that we are going to honor them with a Wine Tasting and Tapas event there this Friday. Ok, Ok.. the other owner Carolyn is one of the top sommeliers here in DC and she picked all the wines.

For more info and the location : http://www.TastingsJournal.com

But just like all of our other events, this one is unique. You know how everyone is always a little shy to order rose wines aka the “Pink” ones? Well don’t be. Let us introduce you to absolutely the best Rose available anywhere in the world. Each wine comes with its own Tapas Course that complements the wine. They are the perfect summer drink.

There will be 5 drinks and 5 tapas courses, you will not need to eat dinner afterwards, so come kill two birds with one stone (Happy Hour & Dinner) and expand your wine expertise all at the same time. Rose Wine is THE wine to drink this summer for the fashionable set (trust me, I thought of the idea while I was in East Hampton at the Maidstone Club) Become an expert with us this Friday. DRINK PINK – Spread the word, invite your friends and bring your co-workers.

Tastings Journal

OH HAPPY DAY!!! Alfa returns to USA.

For real this time, Alfa Romeo has for real announced it will be returning to the US starting with the 2009 model year! I can't wait till these fine autos are rolling around state-side once again. I'm... speachless.

The United States of Alfa

Uncork the Chianti!! Italian maker Alfa Romeo returning to the U.S. in 2009

By GREG KABLE

AutoWeek | Published 07/10/06, 2:24 pm et

Alfa Romeo has confirmed it is preparing a high-stakes return to the North American market after more than a decade’s absence. A trio of contemporary new models will lead the charge.

Although not officially due to go on sale here until the end of 2009 (coinciding with the company’s 100th anniversary in 2010), the new Alfa Romeo lineup is well on the way to fruition, having already been launched in Europe in the past 12 months. Engineering work is now under way at home and in the U.S. to make the cars fit for North American sale, a task Alfa Romeo officials say is a mere formality given that all three models were developed with U.S. safety and emission regulations in mind.

Among the new models the Italian carmaker has earmarked for North America are facelifted versions of the one-year-old 159 sedan, as well the recently launched Brera coupe and Spider convertible. Alfa especially likes the Spider’s chances, given its link with the Duetto, which rose to prominence starring alongside Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in the popular 1967 movie The Graduate.

Each model coming stateside is based on Alfa Romeo’s new Premium platform (a modular structure developed with General Motors’ Saab division). The chassis supports front- and four-wheel drive, and is engineered to conform to North American crash regulations.

Continue reading...

Random @ MARX tonite.

I'm stepping aside tonite and letting my good buddy Random spin his unique blend of downtempo oddities. Be there!

3203 Mount Pleasant St. NW

RAV4-EV sells for $55k on Ebay.

Going once... going twice... and SOLD! $55,000 that's amazing! Some pretty intense bidding for the car, with 36 bids it sure saw a lot of action. And with only 33k miles its got plenty of motoring days ahead of it. and people say there's no demand fot these types of cars...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI...

ECO-Celebs put money where mouth is

Wow, ZAP cars has received orders for $2.2B in smart cars!?!? That's billion, with a B. This is wonderful, horrah for hollywood!

Celebrity cachet helps drive demand for eco-friendly cars

By CAROLYNE ZINKO
At the 2003 Academy Awards, Cameron Diaz and Tim Robbins made an unlikely fashion statement: They each arrived in a chauffeur-driven Toyota Prius.

Since then, celebrities and wannabe celebrities have been getting behind the wheels of eco-friendly cars, to show that they're committed to alternative energy _ and that it's easy to be green. It's working. Toyota has sold 224,975 Priuses since 2003 without paying one penny in direct marketing to promote its hybrid brand.

Now, in the latest Hollywood extravaganza "The Da Vinci Code," Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou can be seen zipping down Parisian sidewalks in the tiny Smart car.

Good gas mileage (60 mpg) and easy parking have made the vehicle ubiquitous in Europe.

But will the two-seat micro car, made by DaimlerChrysler, come west the way the Japanese-made Prius came east? In other words, on green hipster wings?

ZAP, a Santa Rosa, Calif., firm that markets alternative-fuel cars and whose name stands for Zero Auto Pollution, hopes so. It imported 11 Smart cars for sale in 2005 and another 250 this year, distributing them in states where the vehicle complies with emissions standards _ even though DaimlerChrysler hasn't made a formal decision to sell to its dealerships in the United States.

Defying the conventional wisdom that Americans will drive only big cars, ZAP thinks there is a market for cars that are not only fuel-efficient but head-turners _ and has invested $10 million in proprietary technology to modify the Smart car's internal computer codes. This allows the company to adjust the fuel mixtures so the car will meet American emission standards.

"Like 'The Da Vinci Code,' we cracked the code, literally," joked Steven Schneider, chief executive officer of ZAP.

Schneider said that last year the company received orders from U.S. dealers for more Smart cars than they ever expected to deliver, totaling more than $2.2 billion. And that was even before "The Da Vinci Code" gave the car an extra, unintentional bounce. "We have 53,000 e-mails (from prospective buyers) that we've not been able to get back to," Schmidt said. "A big portion of those (people) have been influenced by 'The Da Vinci Code.' It adds to the cool factor."

For "The Da Vinci Code," there was no official product-placement negotiation between the automaker and Columbia Pictures, said Joe Richardson, a spokesman for Mercedes-Benz USA, a division of DaimlerChrysler.

Still, the Smart car seems destined to be propelled by the twin forces of celebrity hipness and environmentalism.

This summer East Coast public relations maven Cygalle Dias is using Smart cars from ZAP to ferry New York's youngest socialites to and from her organic day spa events in the Hamptons. And actor Larry David, who has set up a family environmental foundation at the Natural Resources Defense Council, drives a Prius in his HBO series, "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Meanwhile, George Clooney was pictured in the April "green" issue of Vanity Fair beside his Tango, a narrow, two-seat electric car, and is backing a campaign to reduce dependence on oil called Oil Change, in conjunction with the Sierra Club and the NRDC.

"The attention that celebrities have lavished on Prius has really helped awareness _ this is the kind of advertising that money could never buy," said Cindy Knight, communications administrator for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. "In our case, it was accidental. Celebrities found this car on their own and started talking about it, which was completely surprising to us."

Part of the hesitancy to sell minicars in the United States is based on historic buying trends and the influence of pop culture. "We as a society have preferred larger cars for a long, long time," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal, a magazine that focuses on the intersection of autos, energy and the environment. "The only time that changed was during the two oil crises we had in the '70s and '80s."

Cogan said automakers are reluctant to go full bore in bringing large numbers of very small cars to the market without perceiving a big demand. Reports in the Economist, BusinessWeek and elsewhere have said DaimlerChrysler is losing money on the Smart car in Europe, and there is speculation that the automaker wants to let an importer test the market before committing to widespread sales in the United States.

But the success of the Mini Cooper, and the recent introduction of two small gas-powered cars, the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit, shows that "there's a competitive nature" to the small-car market and that the Smart car could be a player, Cogan said.

Michael Marsden, a popular culture expert at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wis., thinks it is entirely possible, thanks to the Smart's cameo film role, that "a lot of people will see it, connect to the car, start asking questions and start putting pressure on dealerships. It will be identified with the intelligent choice."

The three-cylinder Smart Twofor is 8 feet 2 inches long and 4 feet 11 inches wide and was designed by the maker of Swatch watches and DaimlerChrysler. Its stateside gas mileage is 40 mpg, a result of the emissions tinkering, and retail prices start in the middle-$20,000s, according to Alex Campbell, a salesman at ZAP.

In Phoenix, Greg Peterson said he bought a Smart car from a local dealer in March for its fuel efficiency and its looks. The 44-year-old former software company owner is studying environmental planning and lives in a "sustainability showcase house" that features edible landscaping and rainwater harvesting equipment.

"(The Smart car) is so distinctively different that 30 to 50 people stop me and ask about the car on a weekly basis," said Peterson. "What I'm into is sustainability, and making a statement in the world."

Update from Pamplona

Just one goring? The festival isn't over yet however, there's still 4 more runnings planned, so someone being violently trampled isn't out of the question.

Man gored in Pamplona's running of the bulls
10/07/2006 - 08:17:43 One man was gored in the leg as hundreds of thrill-seekers ran alongside massive bulls through the streets of Pamplona in Spain today. A scene from the bull run is pictured.

One man was gored in the leg as hundreds of thrill-seekers ran alongside massive bulls through the streets of Pamplona in Spain today.

In the fourth of eight planned runs at Pamplona’s San Fermin festival, six bulls charged along the 800-metre route leading to the bull ring in just over two minutes with only one incident where a leading bull caught a man.

Emergency services were called to the cobblestone streets after the bulls had run past, but the severity of the injury was not immediately known.

Preliminary Red Cross information said one young man was gored in the leg and several suffered bruises and sprains.

The worst injury so far this year came on the opening day when an American man was left partially paralysed in a side event after the run. He was thrown by one of five feisty young cows set free in the Pamplona bull ring for people to taunt and dodge.

He has been identified as Ray Ducharme, a 31-year-old bond trader for Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Since record-keeping began in 1924, 13 people have been killed during the runs. The last death was in 1995.

Running of the Bulls!!

I sure wish that I was over there, sounds like one wild party!

Six Hurt on First Day of Pamplona Bull Run

Six half-tonne bulls charged down the cobbled streets of Pamplona today, chasing thousands of runners prepared to risk life and limb in the first of a week of bull runs in this northern Spanish city.

The bull runs, part of the city's annual San Fermin fiestas, got off to a dangerous start as six runners were taken to hospital. One was reportedly in intensive care, suffering paralysis from the neck down, after being tossed into the air by one of the calves released into the crowd in the bull-ring at the end of the run.

Foreign runners, attracted to a fiesta first made famous by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises, once again proved they were the most likely to get hurt in the half-mile dash through Pamplona's streets.

A New Zealander, David MacDowell, 25, was the first to be gored as a bull's horn ripped into his thigh. A British man broke his wrist and an American suffered facial injuries.

The paralysed man was a 31-year-old New Yorker. Officials said he could not move his legs and was taken to the Hospital de Navarra for an emergency operation. "He is in very serious condition and could be paralysed for life," said Pello Pellejero, a Pamplona government spokesman.

At 8am six bulls stormed out of the corral where they had spent the night to start the 900-metre run along a route crowded with people wearing the traditional red and white colours of the fiestas.

One frightened, angry bull dropped his head and charged a group of runners trapped against a wall. Several other runners were battered as the bulls skidded around a corner in their dash towards the city's bullring.

All six bulls were due to be killed this evening in a proper bull-fight with three of Spain's top matadors.

Animal rights campaigners had marched through the city in their underwear on Wednesday to protest at what they claimed was cruelty to the bulls.

Alan Donohue, frontman for British guitar band The Rakes, was arrested after stripping off during the protest.

"I did take all my clothes off and tried to run down the streets but got apprehended by riot police," he said. "It's not necessary to eat and exploit animals."

More than 400 people were injured in the bull runs last year, with about 30 needing hospital treatment.

Fourteen people have been killed since 1924. A Spaniard was killed in 2003 and an American student died in 1995.

Happy Birthday President Bush!!

Here's to many more. He should totally kick back with a half gallon of Jack Daniel's finest and celebrate, he's certainly earned it!!

The Veep's Curious Investment Portfolio

That smart guy!

Is Cheney Betting On Economic Collapse?
By MIKE WHITNEY

Wouldn't you like to know where Dick Cheney puts his money? Then you'd know whether his "deficits don't matter" claim is just baloney or not.

Well, as it turns out, Kiplinger Magazine ran an article based on Cheney's financial disclosure statement and, sure enough, found out that the VP is lying to the American people for the umpteenth time. Deficits do matter and Cheney has invested his money accordingly.
The article is called "Cheney's betting on bad news" and provides an account of where Cheney has socked away more than $25 million. While the figures may be estimates, the investments are not. According to Tom Blackburn of the Palm Beach Post, Cheney has invested heavily in "a fund that specializes in short-term municipal bonds, a tax-exempt money market fund and an inflation protected securities fund. The first two hold up if interest rates rise with inflation. The third is protected against inflation."

Cheney has dumped another (estimated) $10 to $25 million in a European bond fund which tells us that he is counting on a steadily weakening dollar. So, while working class Americans are loosing ground to inflation and rising energy costs, Darth Cheney will be enhancing his wealth in "Old Europe". As Blackburn sagely notes, "Not all bad news' is bad for everybody."

This should put to rest once and for all the foolish notion that the "Bush Economic Plan" is anything more than a scam aimed at looting the public till. The whole deal is intended to shift the nation's wealth from one class to another. It's also clear that Bush-Cheney couldn't have carried this off without the tacit approval of the thieves at the Federal Reserve who engineered the low-interest rate boondoggle to put the American people to sleep while they picked their pockets.

Reasonable people can dispute that Bush is "intentionally" skewering the dollar with his lavish tax cuts, but how does that explain Cheney's portfolio?

It doesn't. And, one thing we can say with metaphysical certainty is that the miserly Cheney would never plunk his money into an investment that wasn't a sure thing. If Cheney is counting on the dollar tanking and interest rates going up, then, by Gawd, that's what'll happen.

The Bush-Cheney team has racked up another $3 trillion in debt in just 6 years. The US national debt now stands at $8.4 trillion dollars while the trade deficit has ballooned to $800 billion nearly 7% of GDP.
This is lunacy. No country, however powerful, can maintain these staggering numbers. The country is in hock up to its neck and has to borrow $2.5 billion per day just to stay above water. Presently, the Fed is expanding the money supply and buying back its own treasuries to hide the hemorrhaging from the public. Its utter madness.

Last month the trade deficit climbed to $70 billion. More importantly, foreign central banks only purchased a meager $47 billion in treasuries to shore up our ravenous appetite for cheap junk from China.
Do the math! They're not investing in America anymore. They are decreasing their stockpiles of dollars. We're sinking fast and Cheney and his pals are manning the lifeboats while the public is diverted with gay marriage amendments and "American Celebrity".

The American manufacturing sector has been hollowed out by cutthroat corporations who've abandoned their country to make a fast-buck in China or Mexico. The $3 trillion housing (equity) bubble is quickly loosing air while the anemic dollar continues to sag. All the signs indicate that the economy is slowing at the same time that energy prices continue to rise.

This is the onset of stagflation; the dreaded combo of a slowing economy and inflation.

Did Americans really think they'd be spared the same type of economic colonization that has been applied throughout the developing world under the rubric of "neoliberalism"?

Well, think again. The American economy is barrel-rolling towards earth and there are only enough parachutes for Cheney and the gang.
The country has lost 3 million jobs from outsourcing since Bush took office; more than 200,000 of those are the high-paying, high-tech jobs that are the life's-blood of every economy.

Consider this from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) June edition of Foreign Affairs, the Bible of globalists and plutocrats:
"Between 2000 and 2003 alone, foreign firms built 60,000manufacturing plants in China. European chemical companies, Japanese carmakers, and US industrial conglomerates are all building factories in China to supply export markets around the world. Similarly, banks, insurance companies, professional-service firms, and IT companies are building R&D and service centers in India to support employees, customers, and production worldwide." ("The Globally integrated Enterprise" Samuel Palmisano, Foreign Affairs page 130)
"60,000 manufacturing plants" in 3 years?!?
"Banks, insurance companies, professional-service firms, and IT companies"?
No job is safe. American elites and corporate tycoons are loading the boats and heading for foreign shores. The only thing they're leaving behind is the insurmountable debt that will be shackled to our children into perpetuity and the carefully arranged levers of a modern police-surveillance state.

Welcome to Bush's 21st Century gulag; third world luxury in a Guantanamo-type setting.
Take another look at Cheney's investment strategy; it tells the whole ugly story. Interest rates are going up, the middle class is going down, and the poor dollar is headed for the dumpster. The country is not simply teetering on the brink of financial collapse; it is being thrust headfirst by the blackguards in office and their satrapies at Federal Reserve.

Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com

Bruce Willis buys electric car

Way to go bruce!

Bruce Willis Goes Green, Buys Electric Car
by Bang Media
Jun 29, 2006

Bruce Willis is buying an electric car. The actor was so affected by his role as a racoon in family movie 'Over The Hedge' that he is trading in his gas-guzzler and going green.

He told BANG Showbiz: "I live in Los Angeles and spend about five hours a day in a car. I do know a lot of people who used to own those big cars but are changing over. "I'm getting one of those electric cars because it makes sense to use an alternative to digging up oil.

Flooding in NY

Hmm.. No wonder the roads are closed, I'm staying put till morning, Amtrak isn't running, neither are the buses. It sounds pretty serious out there.

Three die in accidents as floods ravage N.Y.

The Associated Press

Binghamton - Flooding from torrential rains swept away homes and businesses, closed the Thruway, forced mass evacuations and cut a chasm across Interstate 88 that claimed the lives of two truckers yesterday.

The deadly deluge that swamped parts of the East Coast began cutting across upstate New York Tuesday. By yesterday, flood warnings were posted from the Catskills to the Adirondacks, and a 50-mile section of the Thruway in the Mohawk Valley was shut down. Gov. George Pataki issued disaster declarations for a swath of central and eastern New York.

- TWO TRUCKERS DIE - Two truckers on I-88 - one headed east, the other west - separately drove their trucks into the 25-foot deep hole created by a collapsed culvert in Sidney, police said. It was raining hard at the time of the accidents and it was not clear if the truckers even saw the break, which created a jagged tear across the highway wide enough to swallow the cabs. The gap, created by the surging water of Carrs Creek, closed the road between exits 8 and 13. The truckers' names were not immediately released.

- DRIVER KILLED - A Chenango County man, Robert Stockwell, 31, died after driving his car through a washed-out section of road near his home in New Berlin.

- BINGHAMTON HIT HARD - The heaviest-hit area in New York was around Binghamton, which got 4.05 inches of rain Tuesday, the most received in a 24-hour period. Mayor Matthew Ryan declared a state of emergency for the city and ordered evacuations in some neighborhoods. A house floated down the rain-swollen Susquehanna River near the city yesterday, and whole villages in rural Delaware County were cut off by flood waters.

- GUARD ACTIVATED - Gov. George Pataki activated about 125 National Guard members for evacuation duties, rescue and traffic control. Several hundred people were being cared for at a Red Cross emergency shelter set up at Binghamton University after the Susquehanna, Chenango and other rivers flooded. Marilyn Weiner of the Red Cross said about 1,000 people had registered to get food, clothing or lodging. Pataki told CNN that thousands of people were evacuated.

- EMERGENCIES DECLARED - Thirteen counties declared states of emergency: Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware, Broome, Cortland, Tioga, Chenango, Oneida, Montgomery, Schoharie, Otsego and Herkimer. Portions of Madsion County also were declared emergency areas.

- MOHAWK VALLEY - The Mohawk Valley was also deluged. Homes were evacuated around the Mohawk River, and the surging water forced the Thruway closure between Exit 28 at Fonda-Fultonville and Exit 31 at Utica. The closure was expected to last through this morning.

- MUDSLIDES - In rural Schoharie County, about 90 miles northeast of Binghamton, a mudslide closed a road and prevented emergency crews from reaching residents of a home cut off by the debris. The county's emergency management office said there were no reports of injuries from the mudslide but reported "quite a few roads" in the farming region were closed because of flooding.

AMTRAK HELL

Well, I'm stuck in Albany New York right now. I purchased a ticket from the Amtrak desk at Union station at precisely 8:15am Wednesday morning. The ticket that they issued me allowed for travel between Washington and Rochester NY including an hour layover at NY’s Penn station. Upon arriving at Penn station the big arrival/departure sign was displaying a message. My train wasn’t going to continue onto Rochester, it was terminating at Albany NY, with no other transportation options available. Ohhh…. Rough. I went first to the coffee place next to the Hudson news stand where I purchased a copy of this weeks economist, which featured an article about the new hit movie ‘Who killed the electric car? As psyched as I was on the article and the bagel lox and iced coffee I bought at some food kiosk; I really wanted to find out what the hell was up with the train ride to my sister’s wedding. I’m scheduled to be at some tux fitting appointment Thursday afternoon, and being late isn’t an option. Seeing the long ass line in front of the Amtrak counter I opted to call Amtrak on my cell phone in an attempt to divine what the hell was going on. So like there are all these floods across central New York right now. My uncle Jimmy in Schenevus NY lost the bridge connecting their driveway with the road and can’t get out. So rail service was canceled. Yippee.. I crashed with my cousin Amanda in Albany and we went out to a buncha bars and such in downtown Albany, NY. We met up with Alicia and her husband Claudio and went to Mahar's. What a crazy bar. If you drink 500 beers there they will give you a mug with your bar customer ID number written with a magic marker on it set into a shelf right behind the bar. And to boot the bar has a simple pc setup running some kind of bar software to count which beers you have had and which you still need to cross off your list. It prints a custom report each and every time you log in, WAY COOL!! Amanda and Sean both have tracked their tour of the world’s beers. This pub has 200 beers on the menu; it’s comparable to the brikskeller Inn in that respect. And so now I sit…. Trying to plot out a route that avoids the downed bridges and flooded out roads mucking up travel in central NY.

Special guest tonight @ MARX

I'm taking a back seat tongiht and handing the wheels over to my good buddy Random. He spins down tempo dnb and laid back housey joints, stuff like that. seeya there!

3203 Mount Pleasant St. NW

Update- John never made it; he was too busy drying out his flooded basement apartment. He'll be back at Marx sometime soon, maybe in two weeks or so.

Monday WTF?!??

Something strange for the Monday.

Priest in trouble over sex tape

A Romanian priest is in trouble after his plan to discredit a local councillor by filming him having sex in church backfired.

Father Petrica Florea, 47, from Costesti, convinced a local 17-year-old girl to seduce Constantin Moise, 74, on the altar of a local church.

He filmed the sex session and then planned to show it to parishioners so he could discredit the councillor and take his job.

But his parishioners were so horrified they chased him out of the church and called police, Romanian daily 7 Plus reported.

A police spokesman said: "The priest wanted to make Moise resign because he wanted the position for himself.

"He wanted to discredit the councillor in front of other people. But all he managed to do was anger his parishioners."

He added Father Florea was facing a criminal investigation on charges of attempted blackmail with a possible jail sentence if found guilty and would likely be expelled from the Church.

Stolen sidekick update.

She got her phone back! What a wonderful example of someone setting their mind to something and acomplishing that goal.

For the rest of the story and the wrap down, see http://www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/

Who Killed the Electric Car? Part III

So… I saw it!! And WOW, it's an extremely well crafted and effective film that manages to blend informative wit and solid documentary work. I really hope as many people get to see it as possible once it's released on the 28th.

The viewing was held at the Motion Picture Association of America's Washington office on Eye Street, in their fabulous 50 seat screening room. The event was co-hosted by the national Resource Defense Council, Public Citizen and Sony Pictures Classics. OMG the food was pretty awesome, didn’t expect that at all, I had at least two of everything that had been brought out. Open bar to boot! At one point someone, whom later was introduced as Michael Barker, president of Sony Pictures Classics, jokingly observed that it looked as though I were having dinner. I told him, “the food is certainly welcome; however I’m really excited about this film”. He replied that, “we are all extremely excited about the film and hope that it does well.” Those egg rolls and crab puffs were yummy!

Upon receiving the gentle push from MPAA staff and hearing that the film would be starting soon, me and the friend I had come with, who had just earlier in the day taken a position as a deputy policy director at Public Citizen, found our way into the small theater and sat in the second row. Not before slamming another drink from the open bar mind you, lol.

Before the film began a couple of people had a few things to say including the movie’s director Chris Paine, Michael Barker and the President of Public Citizen, Joan Claybrook. Mike welcomed everybody to what he described as one of the best screening rooms in America. He was followed by Joan who took the opportunity to acknowledge the several different organizations that had worked together to make this screening possible. Chris spoke for a couple of minutes about some of the work that went into the film, thanked everyone for coming, stressed the seriousness of the issues involved and with that the lights began to dim.

The first thing you hear is Martin Sheen’s excellent narration explaining the awful effects that air quality is having on the health of people living in Los Angles. Asthma, lung lesions and chronic bronchitis in LA County are attributed to the poor air quality created by the millions of cars clogging the LA freeways. The fact that 19 pounds of C02 enters the air for every gallon of gas burned in an internal combustion engine is reinforced through the dramatic image of a fogged over camera lenses following several feet behind a tailpipe as the car accelerates and turns a corner.

Explaining the obvious need to do something to improve air quality the films focuses next on the factors leading up to the ZEV mandate, a series of regulations enacted by the California Air Resources Board(CARB). This measure required that auto manufactures selling vehicles in California produce a certain percentage of cars that are Zero Emission Vehicles(ZEV). To conform to the terms of the mandate several auto manufactures began leasing and in some instances selling electric vehicles to the public in California and also in Arizona where a comparable state agency had adopted similar guidelines modeled after the California ZEV mandate.

GM for a time was the electric car volume sales leader of the whole world, its EV1 car was far and away the most respected and competent entry to emerge from the auto manufactures in response to the ZEV mandate. People lucky enough to obtain a lease had few complaints; it was fast, sleek and silent and didn’t use any gas whatsoever. Listening to the interviews with former EV1 drivers it’s quickly apparent why these people had such a close attachment to their cars. Interspersed between these customer testimonials were clips of the car racing around highways, peeling out in a parking garage and in a clip I had never seen before going head to head with a Mazda Mata and a Nissan 300zx and beating both vehicles in a zero to sixty test. I had heard the car was fast, but this particular clip proved to constitute dramatic evidence of the real world car credibility this vehicle had so rightly earned amongst enthusiasts.

An interview with Mel Gibson in this segment details the difficulties that many people experienced while simply trying to obtain leases for these futuristic cars. He mentioned that his application form contained sections requesting such personal information as tattoos and birthmarks, wtf? What possible motive might GM have in requiring potential customers to provide such information? It seems these measures were put in place to make it difficult for someone to abscond on the lease and keep the car as these identifying features would possibly aid police in tracking down the “stolen” property.

Next the focus turns back towards CARB and details the lobbying activities undertaken by the auto manufactures, oil companies and even the White House. Under intense pressure from these lobbying efforts CARB eventually succumbed and severally weakened the ZEV mandate, allowing the auto makers to get out of their obligations to continue producing ZEVs for sale or lease to the public.

This section of the film has interviews with several people who worked on the EV1 project at GM and other industry representatives who potentially may have been able to steer the project in a different direction. Watching these interviews is painful as each person attempts to deflect criticism away from them selves while denying that GM or the auto industry as a whole had setup these electric cars to fail in the marketplace. The one mantra that is tirelessly repeated is that there simply wasn’t any consumer demand for an electric car and that GM could no longer afford to produce the vehicle. According to Chelsea Sexton, an EV1 sales specialist featured in the film, GM was sitting on a waiting list of 4,000 interested parties and for some time denied the existence of such a list.

So now absolved of responsibility under law to produce electric vehicles the auto manufactures ceased making them. When the 3 year leases began to run out on the 800 or so cars that had made it to the road, GM1 took the cars back offering no option for lease holders to purchase them and had every last one crushed save for a few examples which were then donated to universities and museums after having key drive train components disabled.

There are some really poignant moments as EV lovers protest outside GM’s Burbank California storage depot asking for the opportunity to purchase the remaining 87 cars, the only ones left, before they were turned into scrap. Baywatch actress Alaxander Paul is interviewed several times during the film and is seen using the wall charger in her home to demonstrate how simple it was to top-up with one of these amazing cars. She was arrested by Burbank PD for refusing to get out of the path of a semi loaded up with EV1s headed for crushing. That’s dedication!

The rest of the film focuses on interviews from different parties that potentially could be to blame for this public policy disaster. Under careful examination are five suspects. These were batteries, oil companies, automobile manufactures, the government, CARB, hydrogen fuel cell technology and consumers. After watching as each case was made I have to, in my opinion, place the blame with the CARB. Their decision to allow the rules to be relaxed, in response to industry pressure, to the point where the auto makers were no longer required to produce electric cars made the program largely ineffective and served to completely undermine the spirit behind the mandate. These public officials shouldn’t have acted in such a spineless fashion in the face of powerful interests.

The film manages to end on a positive note, showing many of the new electric car technologies that are on the horizon giving hope to the viewer that the tide will eventually turn and the auto manufactures will have little choice but to produce electric cars that meet consumer demand. The film provided me with my first look at the Tesla Roadster. I have looked all over the internet for a picture of this much talked about ultra performing electric sports car which has been partly financed by one of the Google founders, and have come up empty handed. The company behind this new vehicle is rather secretive and hasn’t to my knowledge released an image to the public up until now. It’s pretty sweet looking! With zero to sixty times under 4 seconds and a per charge range of 250 miles its sure to cause a commotion once it’s unveiled officially on July 12 in Santa Monica, California.

As the lights came up Joan Claybrook began to announce the panel they had assembled for the discussion session. First to be seated was Chris Paine, the director of the film. He was followed by Chelsea Sexton, the EV1 sales specialist featured in the film. Next we were introduced to Joseph J. Romm, the author of “The Hype about Hydrogen” whom had been quoted several times in the film during the fuel cell discussion. Next to be seated was R. James Woolsey, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency during the Clinton administration. The final panel member was introduced as Deron Lovaas, Vehicle Campaign Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The first series of questions from the audience seemed to focus on things that others felt had been left from the film. Someone asked why hadn’t the investigation focused it’s scrutiny on the utility companies? Chelsea Sexton and Chris Paine answered that of all potential suspects the utility companies were probably the most eager to see electric vehicles prosper. Utility companies across California and Arizona had invested heavily in the necessary infrastructure to support the fledging vehicles, chargers in public parking lots, education campaigns and PSAs proclaiming the work they were doing to prepare for the proliferation of electric cars that advocates were sure would follow in the footsteps of the groundbreaking ZEV mandate. Well, we know how that turned out and as a result it is going to be more difficult to ramp up their infrastructure efforts again once the ball is rolling once again with this poor taste left in their mouths.

Everybody on the panel seemed to have a deep disdain for the hydrogen fuel cell technology, James Woolsey spoke most harshly about the technology saying that the billions of research dollars that had gone into developing the hydrogen fuel cell were a complete waste of peoples trust, innovation and time. He said that while fuel cells do have useful applications in several fixed single purpose installations, using them in transportation makes no sense whatsoever. I was aware that fuel cell technology had a long way to go but it seemed as though each panel member, especially Joe Romm, felt that the goal of hydrogen research was to serve as a deliberate distraction from research that should otherwise be focused on improving ZEVs. They talked about Alan C. Lloyd who accepted a position as the chairman of the California Fuel Cell Partnership while he was still serving as chair of CARB, while at the same time strangling the ZEV mandate. The California Fuel Cell Partnership receives funding from a variety of sources including oil companies and automobile manufactures.

Another question from the audience that sparked a response from the panel that was heartening to hear was about possibly creating legislation to restrict the size of SUVs. Across the panel everyone seemed to agree that that wouldn’t be a good idea and that the focus of any legislation should be targeted towards fuel economy standards and creating opportunities for ZEVs to be introduced into the marketplace. Woolsey went out of his way to stress that there was nothing inherently wrong with large vehicles, it is and has always been the fuel economy standards that need to be improved in order to decrease our use of non-renewable energy sources. For these vehicles to be adopted by the public at large they shouldn’t be terribly different from the gas powered cars they are to replace.

One of the points I came away with was that there really isn’t one single silver bullet that you can point to and blame for the death of the electric car in America. It was a combination of factors aligned against its success that ultimately doomed it. The panel seemed unified however in the opinion that GM set the car up to fail from the beginning and never seriously marketed it in a way that would have resulted in its widespread adoption. That combined with the cowardly abandonment of the California ZEV mandate and there you go, witness the death of the electric car.

Ralph Nader was in the audience but not seated on the panel, he was in the last row and fielded several questions posed to him from the panel which I thought was odd. This made it awkward for everyone in the theater to hear him speak, we would crane over our shoulders towards the back of the room while listening to him speak and then turn back towards the panel to hear the response. He was rather harsh towards the film and sounded disappointed as he felt that the film wouldn’t inspire the critical activism in the public due to the films, as he worded it, the “technological euphoria” with which the film ends. He would have preferred that the film focus on the real problem, the 531 members of Congress that are the only way this technology could ultimately be proliferated. Industry will not champion change by them selves, that’s been proven time and time again. Joan Claybrook agreed and related her experience trying to get airbags into passenger cars, which ultimately took an act of congress to bring to the market place. Chelsea and Chris chimed in as well citing GM’s reluctance to put reliable batteries into the first series of EV1s, opting to use lead acid batteries instead of the more road worthy Nickel Metal Hydride technology that eventually found their way into the second generation models. Everyone seemed to agree that the major auto manufactures will resist change as much as they can up until Congress forces them to implement features that the consumer demands. So perhaps Nader’s comments weren’t so much a slam of the film but an expression of what we know to be true. He would have preferred to see a film that would inspire action instead of “technological euphoria”.

This about wraps up my notes from the night, if I have anything else to add I will, thanks for reading!

minimum wage politics

Congress just gave themselves a $3,300 a year pay raise last week, yet these creeps can't do the same for the people they claim to represent? The last time that the federal minimum wage was increased was fucking 1996. As a direct result America's poor working class find themselves struggling to sustain a quality of living that could possibly be deemed as "middle class" in Pakistan, Vietnam and North Korea. This is unacceptable!

For most working American families, pay has not risen nearly as much as their costs have. Based on a 40-hour work week minimum wage earners take home $10,712 per year before taxes, considerably lower than the poverty level. Members of Congress earned an annual $133,600 at the time the minimum wage was last raised. With their new raise to $168,500 per year, this represents a 26% pay hike over the past 10 years, compared with a 0% increase in the minimum wage.

It is troubling that members of Congress squeal loudly about the inability of companies to pay a higher minimum wage to their employees, yet these same representatives have no problem doling out taxpayer money to line their pockets further during a time of wildly increasing budget deficits. This action represents inexcusable irresponsibility, for which we all share the cost, quite literally.

Today, the real value of the minimum wage is more than $3.50 below what it was in 1968. Approximately 7.3 million workers currently are earning the federal minimum wage. Adults are the majority, 72%, of these workers, 61% of minimum-wage workers are women. More than a third of those working at minimum wage also care for children under the age of 18, with more than 700,000 of them single mothers.

The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2005, introduced by Senator Kennedy as S.1062 and Representative Miller as H.R.2429, proposes to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 in three steps over two years, benefiting as many as 15.5 million hard working Americans.

This wage increase will give America’s economy a much needed boost, allowing working class wage earners the opportunity to purchase I-pods, refrigerators with water and ice service through the door and second hand late model SUVs.

Seventeen states have already enacted higher minimum wage laws. Evidence from these states and experience with past federal minimum wage increases demonstrates raising the minimum wage benefits working poor families, stimulates the economy and does not cause job loss. 72% of workers who would benefit from this increase are adults, and evidence from the last federal minimum wage increase shows that the average minimum wage worker brings home more than half of his or her family's weekly earnings.

Raising the minimum wage will allow Americans at the bottom of society to save. Currently the national savings rate, an excellent barometer of overall economic health, is at the lowest level since 1933. The 0.5 percent negative savings rate for 2005 followed a 1.8 percent rate of savings in 2004. The last negative rates occurred in 1932, a drop of 0.9 percent, and a record 1.5 percent decline in 1933. In those years Americans exhausted their savings to try to meet expenses in the wake of the worst economic crisis in U.S. history, commonly known as the Great Depression.

Congress should immediately move to enact this legislation; if for no other reason than to mollify mainstream voters outraged by bribery scandals in preparation for the congressional elections in November.

Tonight's the night....

That I get to see "Who killed the electric car?". I'm extremly excited, this work day needs to hurry up and be over. Fortunatley I have a lot to get done today before I can leave, so things should be over within short order on account of me staying busy for the duration of the day. I wonder what new revelations await? I can't imagine there's much more beyond the patent issues pertaining to the availability of NiMh batteries, we'll see tonight. I'll try and write up a whole review either later tonight or tommorow morning.

I'll be at Marx Cafe tonight, however I think I may ask my friend Calvin to spin for me tonight as I'm not sure that I'll have enough time to run home and get my records after seeing the film. Seeya!

Lawmakers are greedy pigs.

These fucking assholes have the nerve to grant themselves a cost of living increase yet won't do the same for the people they claim to represent? That's horseshit! The last time the federal minium wage was raised was fucking 1996. It's time to throw the bums out, the whole lot of em'.

House lawmakers take $3,300 pay raise

WASHINGTON — Despite record low approval ratings, House lawmakers Tuesday embraced a $3,300 pay raise that would increase their salaries to $168,500.

The 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) would be the seventh straight for members of the House and Senate. Lawmakers easily squelched an attempt by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to get a direct vote to block the increase, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it.

In the early days of GOP control of Congress, lawmakers routinely denied themselves the annual COLA.

This pretty shameful, a new low in fact. But dosen't this happen every year? Yes it does. These vermin have actually managed to lock the pay raise into being, such that to prevent it from occuring action would be required. wtf?

A full time minimum wage worker makes just $10,712 per year before taxes.

Yeah, it's not congress that's out of touch here; as they clearly have their self serving priorities in order. It's each and every American that should bear the shame for allowing these louts to continue operating a kleptocracy with no end in sight.

Prez Bush mocks the disabled, later apologizes.

this is kind of funny, I'm glad he called the guy and set it straight, but.... Bush still never answered the guy's question, I think that's a far worse transgression than ribbing the guy for wearing corrective lenses.

Bush apologizes for embarrassing reporter with vision problem
By NEDRA PICKLER
Jun 14, 2006, 16:45

President Bush, who often teases members of the White House press corps, apologized Wednesday after he poked fun at a reporter for wearing sunglasses without realizing they were needed for vision loss.

The exchange occurred at a news conference in the Rose Garden.

Bush called on Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Wallsten and asked if he was going to ask his question with his "shades" on.

"For the viewers, there's no sun," Bush said to the television cameras.

But even though the sun was behind the clouds, Wallsten still needs the sunglasses because he has Stargardt's disease, a form of macular degeneration that causes progressive vision loss. The condition causes Wallsten to be sensitive to glare and even on a cloudy day, can cause pain and increase the loss of sight.

Wallsten said Bush called his cell phone later in the day to apologize and tell him that he didn't know he had the disease. Wallsten said he interrupted and told the president that no apology was necessary and that he didn't feel offended since he hadn't told anyone at the White House about his condition.

Continue reading...

Ricin threat a joke! MARX TNIGHT!!11

Here is an extreamly interesting story about the Ricin plot from several years ago. Remeber this? Apparently the whole story is bupkis, a fabrication! Who'd a thunk it?

http://www.dickdestiny.com/blog/200/...

Oh, and more importantly.....

MARX CAFE TONIGHT!!!
3203 Mount Pleasant St. NW

B-Boy battle, Car show in Virginia

I'm going to try and check this action out. Soundz rad!

GEs 1968 EV!

Wow, so GE was working on an electric car in the 1960s! I had no idea fuel cell technology has been around for as long as this article states. Did you know that the Gemini space missions relied on small, stable and powerful fuel cells? Standing up to entreched interests as oil and automobile manufactures proved to be too much apparently as this project was lost to history. I guess this idea never really went away though, I remember reading about electric cars (and steam) being commercially avaiable around the turn of the century before being replaced en mass by ICE vechiles. I think this time around electric transportation will really take off. This article even mentions hybrid vechiles using bascially the same defination as we use it today. crazy!

http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/GE_EV_hearings.html

Stolen Sidekick, LOL!!1

OMG, what a wild story. I really hope we hear in the end that this poor girl gets her phone back. It's possible that the people who stole it have already thrown it into the trash or destroyed it. If they refuse to return it, well then the police should become involved and the perps should be charged w/ a crime, pocession of stolen property or something along those lines. I really don't think this is a hoax as some people have alleged, it seems to organic to be fake, like it's clear that the girl just wants her phone back. Also possible is that this is some sort of viral marketing effort on the behalf of t-mobile. If I was in the same position I too would just like to get the damn phone back and call it a night and were it returned I wouldn't press criminal charges, that tells me it's legit. Hopefully we'll get to see this play out over the next couple of days? I know I'll be watching.

http://www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/

FBI says, "No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11"

According to Rex Tomb, the FBI's spokesperson, Bin Laden has never been charged in connection with the terrorist attacks of 9/11. WTF? I found this wired article from 2001 that states that the FBI intends to charge Bin Laden once they have collected the necessary evidence required by a grand jury. Wow, it never happened and were still waiting for the evidience that bush we used as the justifcation for the invasion of Afganistan. I'm sick right now. This is awful, what is going on in the world these days??!?!

On June 5, 2006, the Muckraker Report contacted the FBI Headquarters, (202) 324-3000, to learn why Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Usama was also wanted in connection with 9/11. The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden’s Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.”

Surprised by the ease in which this FBI spokesman made such an astonishing statement, I asked, “How this was possible?” Tomb continued, “Bin Laden has not been formally charged in connection to 9/11.” I asked, “How does that work?” Tomb continued, “The FBI gathers evidence. Once evidence is gathered, it is turned over to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice than decides whether it has enough evidence to present to a federal grand jury. In the case of the 1998 United States Embassies being bombed, Bin Laden has been formally indicted and charged by a grand jury. He has not been formally indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence connected Bin Laden to 9/11.”

Tiolet Paper gone wild!@

Ha ha.. MARX CAFE TONIGHT!

FOXNEWS.COM HOME > NATIONAL
Toilet Paper Spill Blocks N.Y. Thruway Traffic
Tuesday, June 06, 2006

BATAVIA, N.Y. — Please don't squeeze the Charmin. And don't dump it on the highway, either.

Crews on the New York State Thruway spent hours cleaning up the mess caused when a truck full of toilet paper caught fire.

It happened about 40 miles east of Buffalo. The driver of the rig managed to escape.

But roll after roll of the bathroom tissue spilled onto the highway, backing up traffic for miles. That, in turn, led to a separate accident involving two trucks. Police say no one was seriously hurt.

Who killed the EVs?

Great article about this upcoming film! There's some interesting details in here that i hadn't heard before. Like the fact that the filmaker was an EV1 driver himself, and GM took back the car without telling him while it was being serviced at a dealership with 2 months on the lease! WTF?

Three months later, activists discovered that 78 EV1s were in storage at a GM facility in the LA suburb of Burbank. They staged a month-long vigil for the vehicles' survival. To challenge the company's line that nobody wanted them, they found buyers for every last one and offered a total of $1.9 million.

At a time when america's auto makers are under such intense pressure to remain profitable, when foreign brands dominate the marketplace, these idiots are willfully destroying cars that people were willing to spend good money on. Something stinks!

Update: I just got an invite to a screening here in dc on the 20th, I'm hella excited. Thank you Bob! I'll be sure and post a full review after i see it.

http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/Con...

Incompetent news round-up

LOLZZ!!1 Perfect for a friday, it dosen't get much better than this!

Thu Jun 1, 9:03 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - A would-be Japanese bank robber asked staff how he should carry out the crime before meekly obeying a request to leave and then accidentally stabbing himself in the leg with a knife he was carrying. The 58-year-old unemployed man went into a branch of the Saitama Resona Bank in the town of Kumagaya, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday, intending to rob it, a police spokesman said.

According to local media reports the man first asked a bank teller, "Any idea how you rob a bank?" The teller alerted another member of staff, who asked the man to leave. "He left quietly when asked to," the police spokesman said.

However, the staff member escorting the man out of the bank noticed the knife sticking out of his pocket and a bloodstain on his trousers. Police arrested the man for illegal possession of a weapon. "He didn't brandish the knife at anyone ... but he injured himself in the leg," the police spokesman said.

oh, I wouldn't hold my breath for this to be returned any time soon. And how could something like this happen any way. Are Austrian tax collectors literally going door to door with a burlap sack?

Fri Jun 2, 8:17 AM ET

VIENNA, Austria - A tax collector in the southern Austrian city of Graz accidentally left $28,000 in cash in a black attache case he placed on top of a toilet in the men's room of a local restaurant Thursday, police said.

By the time he realized it was missing and went back, the cash was gone, authorities said.

As of Friday, no one had turned up with the money, prompting police in the city 120 miles south of Vienna to issue an appeal for its return.

ohh.. and this one takes the cake. have a great weekend!

Vandal fingered himself as suspect

A vandal who knocked over headstones in a US cemetery left police a small but important clue - his finger.

Police found the finger end stuck between two toppled gravestones in the cemetery in Fleming, New York state.

Officers, who say a total of 53 headstones were knocked over, later arrested a man missing a finger.

He has been charged with criminal mischief, criminal trespass and cemetery desecration, reports 13WHAM-TV.

Marx cafe tonight

In case you thought I may have forgotton. Holl@!!

Global Warming

Wow, I don't know how this isn't bigger news right now. I didn't know global warming was getting worse so fast. I'm going to be sure and go see that new movie that Al Gore put together, he's totally ceral about it!

Greenhouse gas-temperature feedback mechanism may raise warming beyond previous estimates
22 May 2006
Unit: Wageningen UR
Number: P040wue

Joint Release of the American Geophysical Union, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Dorset and Wageningen University.

A team of European scientists reports that climate change estimates for the next century may have substantially underestimated the potential magnitude of global warming. They say that actual warming due to human fossil fuel emissions may be 15-to-78 percent higher than warming estimates that do not take into account the feedback mechanism involving carbon dioxide and Earth's temperature.

In a paper to be published on 26 May in Geophysical Research Letters, Marten Scheffer of Wageningen University in the Netherlands and colleagues at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in the United Kingdom use newly acquired ancient climate data to quantify the two-way phenomenon by which greenhouse gases not only contribute to higher temperatures, but are themselves increased by the higher temperatures. This higher concentration leads to still higher temperatures, in what scientists call a positive feedback loop.

The researchers achieved their breakthrough by interpreting the high-resolution data from polar ice cores and temperature reconstructions based on geological proxy data in a new way. Although the effect of greenhouse gases on temperature is well known, the reverse effect is usually ignored. The latter has now been estimated through a correction of the past climate data, using a model of the greenhouse effect.

One complicating factor was that some of the processes that play a role in the feedback loop are quite fast, taking place over a period of years, while others take centuries or even millennia. This implies that the strength of the feedback effect depends on the time scale being analyzed. Another factor was that the modern world looks quite different than it did tens of thousands of year ago, when the ice in the cores was formed.

Therefore, the authors focused especially on relatively recent climatic anomaly known as the "Little Ice Age." During this period (about 1550-1850), immortalized in many paintings of frozen landscapes in Northern Europe, Earth was substantially colder than it is now. This, scientists have concluded, was due largely to reduced solar activity, and just as during true ice ages, the atmospheric carbon level dropped during the Little Ice Age. The authors used this information to estimate how sensitive the carbon dioxide concentration is to temperature, which allowed them to calculate how much the climate-carbon dioxide feedbacks will affect future global warming.

As Marten Scheffer explains, "Although there are still significant uncertainties, our simple data-based approach is consistent with the latest climate-carbon cycle models, which suggest that global warming will be accelerated by the effects of climate change on the rate of carbon dioxide increase. In view of our findings, estimates of future warming that ignore these effects may have to be raised by about 50 percent. We have, in fact, been conservative on several points. For instance, we do not account for the greenhouse effect of methane, which is also known to increase in warm periods."

The research was funded by Wageningen University and the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council.



Note
Journalists (only) may obtain a pdf copy of this paper upon request to Jonathan Lifland: jlifland@agu.org. Please provide your name, name of publication, phone, and email address. The paper and this press release are not under embargo.Title:"Positive feedback between global warming and atmospheric CO2 concentration inferred from past climate change"Authors:Marten Scheffer: Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands;Victor Brovkin: Climate Systems Research Department, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany;Peter Cox: Hadley Centre, Met Office, Bracknell, United Kingdom; now Science Director, Climate Change, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Dorset, United Kingdom. Citation:Scheffer, M., V. Brovkin, and P. Cox (2006), Positive feedback between global warming and atmospheric CO2 concentration inferred from past climate change, Geophys. Res. Lett, 33, L10702, doi:10.1029/2005GL025044.Contact information for authors:Marten Scheffer: +31 (0)317 48 40 39 or marten.scheffer@wur.nlVictor Brovkin: +49 331 288 2592 or victor@pik-potsdam.dePeter Cox: +44 (0)7768 507141 (22-24 May) or +44 (0)1395 576600 or pcox@ceh.ac.uk

double standards in our courts

These witnesses that are willfully ignoring court supeonas should be thrown in jail for contempt. It dosen't matter if these people don't want to be there, or in the words of one of these scoflaws,..

"They were trying to get me to help that dude," Metzger said after he finished testifying. Later he said, "I don't even want to be here."

These supeonas carry the force of law, they don't have the option of not respecting them. Witnesses should want to testify in the name of truth and justice, regardless of the outcome. The disrespect these people are willing to show for our judicial process and basic rule of law is sickening. ITS YOUR CIVIC DUTY!

http://www.washingtonpos...

Don't laugh

Marx Cafe tonight!!

Yes, it's that time of the week again. New music tuesday!! YAARRGH!!




3203 Mount Pleasant St NW

VA data theft!

HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! This VA employee conspired to steal the data and then auctioned it off to the highest bidder prior to the theft! no doubt about it, he/she had his/her acomplices fake a home intrusion in exchange for a reasonable cut of the take. How much does this govt puke pull down in a given year, $30K .... $50k tops!>! The data in question here is certinly worth much more than that. The scary thought; what if this data has been sold to a forgein government!? holy fucking shit I'm ROTFLMFAO!!!!

http://www.washingtonpos............

Update: I think that I may have found Captain Dofus! Here's the guy responsible for compromising the identies of 26.5 million Americans. Drum roll please..... David J. West. I'm certain of it.



http://www1.va.gov/washington/co..

Well if it's not this guy, perhaps it's one of these people listed here. I should call all these people one by one and get em' to talk, makes it easy cause there are phone numbers all over that page, proably something that should be on an internal webpage? lol. Somebody knows something! I'm sure this guy would like to get on some talk shows, maybe write a book? Perhaps consult w/ ABC to put together a made for tv movie? "THE DAY I LOST MY LAPTOP" starring the dad from that sevinties show.

unngg.. here we go. maybe it was somebody on this guy's staff. Ken Rubin. US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Information Architecture Office sounds like the kind of outfit that would have those types of records just laying around.

I'm sure that whomever is responsible for this feels really bad about the whole incident. Perhaps a public apology is in order?

Japone wrap-up.

Last nite was pretty crazy, after my nerves calmed down a little (hands shaking like crazy, not good) I put down an *ok* set. Made some pretty obvious blunders w/ the mixer and records, trainwrecked my way through several transitions. I guess it was allright overall, not great though. Could have been a lot worse I reckon.

Mattb at Japone, Sunday nite!

I'm DJing at cafe Japone in Doupont Circle this Sunday, May 21! I am hella excited beyond words at this moment and extremely nervous. I go on at 9pm. I'm bringing Jeff, Julie, Mark, Michelle, Pete and possibly Paul and some of his UM peeps. Check out the washpost review of Japone, it's well worth it!!

2032 P St. NW, Washington, DC 20036

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-... - Washpost article about how cool Japone's Sango Sho lounge is!

http://www.buzzlife.com/forums... - buzzlife thread, leave a note there and let me know your coming!

Email journalists about EVs!!

I emailed this reply in response to an article I read at the oldest political news website on the internet, capitolhillblue.com. That got me to thinking, I should co-opt this email to act as a form letter to send to journalists wrighting about energy issues. Hopefully this will serve as a vechile for education about this promising technology with the potential to liberate us from the gas pump. Feel free to do the same!

Good Morning,

I just read your piece on the looming energy crisis at capitolhillblue.com. How can you neglect to mention electric cars and PHEVs (plug-in hybrids) in an otherwise concise and level headed account of the energy situation? Please consider revising your article after reviewing the material I've linked to below. 70% of our oil consumption here in America is dedicated to transportation costs, were we to reduce this usage by 10% or even 30% through the proliferation of these maturing technologies we will have done much to restore our energy independence for the benefit of future generations of Americans.

http://www.calcars.org/bettah/ - Simple flash presentation outlining the clear advantages of PHEVs.


This electric car (described in the CNN article below) available soon for sale at a price of $100k can easily out perform all but one of the world's most expensive sport cars. It has a range of 100 miles and can be recharged in 4.5 hours. There's no reason that this same technology can't be adapted to propel a luxury sedan, monster SUV or even a jumbo jet. One of the clear advantages is the lack of complicated moving parts involved in an electric car, which means an amazing increase in reliability over vehicles using the horribly inefficient and soon to be rendered obsolete internal combustion engine. No oil changes, no spark plugs to replace, no oil or air filters, etc.. This further reduces the cost to the consumer and will raise the standard of living for all those involved.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/... - condensed version w/ pics.
http://money.cnn.com/magazi... - longer version.


James Woolsey, former director of the CIA, is a big champion of this technology. His argument is that it makes perfect sense for us to utilize existing infrastructure (our nation's electric transmission network) when looking for a sensible replacement for our waning oil supply. Other options under consideration such as ethanol, bio-mass and hydrogen would require the creation of the necessary service station fittings to deliver, store and vend these exotic fuels. Mr. Woolsey's recent testimony before the US Senate Committee on Energy is very enlightening.

http://www.alternativefuelstoday.net/r__james_wo... - he's a smart guy!


If you get a chance try and catch the upcoming film entitled, Who killed the Electric Car? It has been reviewed to much critical acclaim at both the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals. It's a revealing look into the insensible lengths the oil companies and major auto manufactures are willing to go to protect their hilariously antiquated businesses.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilled... - Trailer.


Thank you for you time. Please join me in helping to spread the word! Together we can achieve true energy independence in America!

Best,

Matthew Benjamin

Here's the orginal article that inspired this.

The energy crisis is here
By ANN McFEATTERS
May 19, 2006, 01:30

The uh-oh letter came in a plain white envelope, no indication of the bolt of lightning inside.

It was from the electric company, announcing that the "average" residential customer's bill will increase 41 percent, meaning about $800 more a year. I am not average. My bill will go up about $1,500 a year _ if I use no air conditioning at all this summer.

The letter explained that the "prices for the fuels used to generate electricity (coal, oil and natural gas) have all increased substantially in the past few years." Another increase is likely a year from now.

The company (motto: "We're connected to you by more than power lines") advises that the best thing to do is conserve energy in such ways as not wasting hot water, keeping the thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer, and turning off lights when leaving a room.

A new poll by The Washington Post and ABC News has found that Americans are less pessimistic this month about gas prices than in April, when 70 percent said fueling their cars was causing financial hardship. Now, 57 percent say that is the case, even though paying $3 for a gallon of gas has become routine for many Americans. Possibly, knowing that Europeans pay $5 a gallon makes us feel a little guilty about complaining.

The lesson for me is that we are never in our lifetime going to see cheap energy again, and, painful though it will be, we will get used to it. We have no choice because our country has no energy policy because its politicians don't realize we're in a full-fledged energy crisis.

In a brand-new development, we now compete with millions of people in China for finite fuels, and the tradeoffs in our foreign policy we are going to make will be galling. (Note: Libya, which blew Pan Am 103 out of the skies _ the deadliest terrorist attack on Americans until 9/11, is now our friend. Prediction: Oil-rich countries with anti-democratic dictators will be increasingly tolerated.)

It's well and good for President Bush to tell us to end our "addiction to oil," as he did in January, but that is not going to be easy. The electric company's 85 common ways to save electric energy involve much less comfort, spending money on new equipment, hiring contractors or such simple changes that many energy-conscious homeowners have already done them. Tell a soccer mom who carpools kids around half the day that she should get rid of her gas-guzzling SUV, and she'll shrug her shoulders helplessly.

Global demand for energy is expected to increase 50 percent in 25 years. America's oil and natural-gas industry, represented by the American Petroleum Institute, says that in the last 13 years its companies have invested $1 trillion in exploration and new production. That's how it justifies the huge revenues from consumers the industry is accumulating. But how else will it get $6 trillion to invest in producing more oil and gas by 2030?

The administration's approach to serious energy problems is to throw environmental caution to the winds, relax regulations and let the companies do just about what they please. Congress so far has blocked efforts to end the ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, but sooner or later the ban will end. The stupid idea of giving consumers $100 gas rebate checks in an age of huge deficits is dead, but it won't be the last silly idea politicians come up with to try to assuage angry voters.

This country needs to develop an environmentally sensitive energy policy, go on an energy-conservation binge by mandating tougher energy-efficiency standards, decrease our dependence on foreign oil instead of increasing it, raise gasoline taxes to promote more research on renewable sources of alternative energy, stop waging war with oil-rich countries, stop giving oil-rich dictators our petrodollars and make hybrid cars more economically viable.

This will not happen in the next two and a half years _ Bush has not the time, interest or political capital to push such steps. Basically, the former Texas oilman wants to kick the can down the road, letting oil and gas companies contaminate environmentally sensitive areas by trying to find a little more gas and oil, which will not solve our long-term problem at all.

This is like an out-of-work father just about out of money spending his few remaining dollars on lottery tickets instead of investing in training for a new job.

Meanwhile, as we stagger toward the realization that we are in a full-fledged energy crisis, I am hoping for a cooler-than-normal summer.

(Scripps Howard News Service columnist Ann McFeatters has covered the White House and national politics since 1986. E-mail amcfeatters(at)nationalpress.com.)

© Copyright 2006 by Capitol Hill Blue

Marx Cafe tonight!

Hey, you know what day of the week it is? Time to party, that's what. And why pray tell? Cause I gotta!

I think a friend of mine from college will be joining us tonight, possibly. Bolt, if your reading this you had better not flake this time bucko. Capiche?

3203 Mt. Pleasant St. NW

Cowardly Cops in Anne Arundel

These cops are fucking cowards, or just lazy, or perhaps they use their job as an opportunity to satisfy their out of control bloodlust. Whatever the reasoning behind this senseless killing, there's no reason that 5 police officers shouldn't be able to safely subdue an 18-year old male brandishing a pair OF FUCKING SCISSORS! Why did they have to kill this guy? No tazers on hand? No pepper spray or mace? What gives?! A professional law enforcement official should have the courage and agility to casually disarm with only his night stick and sharp wits some one wielding a knife in a threatening manner. Oh, that assumes these cops are competent professionals and not a pack of out of control cowboys. Nope, these cops are cowards, plain and simple, no guts, no steel nerve, no special capabilities worthy of respect at all and a waste of the tax payers money. Public servants my ass! pfftt.. What's being taught in our nations police academies these days that would produce such reckless and lazy administration of ones duties to the community at large? Cops in England have these skills as they aren't permitted to carry a sidearm while on foot patrol, for these talented professionals it's an easy matter to disarm a knife wielding perp, much less someone who is suicidal and wielding a FUCKING PAIR OF SCISSORS!?!? These lazy police officers should be required to take a hand to hand combat course after this disgusting display of sub-par police work. Another sickening note, this story quotes an eye-witness who claims he didn't see any knife or scissors at all, so it's likely that the cops would rather shoot a man dead than deal with a complex situation. At the very least the cops involved should be charged with negligent homicide. Fucking cowards, all of them.

Arundel Officers Shoot, Kill Man, 18
'Suicide by Cop' A Police Theory

By Jo Becker and Ray Rivera
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 15, 2006; Page B01

Four Anne Arundel County police officers shot and killed an 18-year-old man early yesterday morning after he allegedly charged them with a pair of scissors and repeatedly urged the officers to fire, authorities said.

Justin J. Fisher of Glen Burnie was shot several times in the upper body after a tense, 35-minute standoff during which officers attempted to persuade the distraught teenager to drop the nine-inch sewing shears while Fisher threatened to stab himself and yelled, "Shoot me, shoot me," Lt. David Waltemeyer said.

It was the third shooting this month and the fourth over the past year involving the Anne Arundel County Police Department.

Neighbors near the intersection of Park and Roland roads in the quiet, middle-class Pasadena neighborhood where the shooting took place shortly after 5 a.m. reported hearing a loud argument followed by between five and eight rapid-fire shots.

Charles Cronise, a 78-year-old retiree, said he saw a line of about a dozen officers clad in dark clothing advancing on Fisher, who was holding something in his hand and kept backing away. Then Cronise heard gunfire.

"I heard this rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat -- there were quite a few shots," he said in a telephone interview. "It sounded like a machine gun."

Authorities said the confrontation began when Fisher's mother phoned the police at 4:24 a.m. to report that her son had stabbed himself and possibly his girlfriend at a home in the 8400 block of Arbutus Road. The girlfriend, whom police have not identified, was not injured.

An officer responding to the scene about 4:30 a.m. found Fisher nearby, driving a silver Honda Accord. Fisher got out of the car wielding the scissors, police said.

Officers said they set up a moving perimeter as Fisher walked about a block and half to the corner of Park and Roland, while a police sergeant pleaded with Fisher for more than a half-hour to drop the scissors. "He had the scissors up to his neck; he was yelling and threatening to stab himself," Waltemeyer said. "He was very aggressive."

At 5:06 a.m., Fisher turned away from the sergeant, pointed the scissors at four uniformed officers about 20 feet away and charged at them, authorities said. The four officers ordered him to drop the weapon, and when Fisher refused, all four fired their handguns, according to police reports.

"About eight shots rang out, and then everyone started running and ducking," said Ken Padgett, a neighbor.

Jim Moon, a 48-year-old telephone service technician who lives at the corner where Fisher was shot, heard what he thought were firecrackers, rushed outside and saw an ambulance and about 15 police officers in front of his house. Fisher lay bare-chested on his back, his bloody shirt ripped open by paramedics and his shoes removed, Moon said.

"I could tell he was seriously injured," Moon said, adding that he did not see scissors or a weapon.

Fisher was taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, where he was pronounced dead.

The four officers involved in the shooting, whose names were not released, have between 1 1/2 and five years' experience with the department and were placed on routine administrative leave while the incident is investigated, Waltemeyer said.

He said that initial indications are that the officers followed procedure and that the shooting was a "justifiable use of deadly force."

Any "edged weapon," including scissors, is considered deadly, Waltemeyer said, and officers are trained to shoot at the upper body to stop a threat. Fisher, he added, might be a victim of "suicide by cop," a phenomenon in which someone deliberately threatens a law enforcement officer in order to provoke a lethal response.

Fisher's shaken family members declined to comment and referred calls to their attorney, Daniel Held. Held did not return calls seeking comment.

Two other shootings this month by department officers are also subjects of ongoing investigations.

On May 2, a patrol officer responding to a report of a possibly suicidal person shot a Herald Harbor man in the stomach after he allegedly threatened officers with a rifle, according to authorities. He was critically wounded.

On May 4, a detective seriously wounded a Pasadena man by shooting him in the head when the man rammed another officer's car in an attempt to resist arrest.

Last May, officers shot and killed an unarmed and disoriented naked man who had allegedly fired a handgun inside a home a few blocks away. Officers were cleared of wrongdoing in that shooting.

Staff researcher Don Pohlman contributed to this report.

Come on down to the courthouse!

Hey, if you can please head down to the Federal Courthouse in Alexandria today morning this Friday. A man who was roughfly treated for no apparent good reason should get our support as he sues the goverment that mistreated him.

FRIDAY MAY 12
10 AM
401 Courthouse Square
Alexandria, VA 22314

For backstory go here.

Electric Cars

It's now clear to me that Texaco-Chevron and possibly many automobile manufactures have activley conspired to prohibit the sale of electric cars in North America and abroad. Through the underhanded control of key patent technology this cabal has managed to effectivley constrain the availbility of NiMH type batteries large enough to power an automobile. here, read about it, it's all laid out here..

http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/goodtoyota-badtoyota.html

Marx Cafe tonight!!

YO!!!1 Marx Cafe tonight. I have some new tunes, some brazilian rainforest music and a couple of house records that I haven't ever played before.

3203 Mt. Pleasant St. NW

So just how backwards is Iran?

Apparently very backwards. When I first scanned this headline I assumed they were talking about allowing women to play sports on the same team as men. no, this is actually about allowing women to attend sporting events.

Iran women sports ruling vetoed

The supreme leader of Iran has vetoed a ruling by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that would have allowed women to attend major sporting events. Several ayatollahs and MPs had said last month's ruling violated Islamic law and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has now said it should be reconsidered. Mr Ahmadinejad had said lifting the ban would "promote chastity".

Separately, Iranian police are launching a new drive against owners of illegal satellite television equipment.

Long-time ban

Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say on all matters of state.

Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said President Ahmadinejad would act according to the supreme leader's wishes.

Six grand ayatollahs and several MPs had protested against Mr Ahmadinejad's move, saying it violated Islamic law for a woman to look at the body of a male stranger. One MP had said if the reformists had tried the move there would have been suicide bombers protesting on the streets of Tehran.

The ban has been in place since the Islamic revolution in 1979. President Ahmadinejad, who is regarded as an ultra conservative, had said women must be given a chance to watch all sporting events.

"The best stands should be allocated to women and families in the stadiums in which national and important matches are being held," he said. The move had been welcomed by women's rights campaigners, who have long protested against their banishment from stadiums.

Meanwhile, police are launching a new campaign against the owners of illegal satellite television equipment.

Iran's official Isna news agency quoted the chief of police, Esmail Ahmadi-Mogadam, as saying that if such equipment was visible in homes, it would be seized. Satellite television, deemed decadent and officially banned, is thought to be picked up by four million dishes in the country. Satellite dish owners can watch hundreds of international television channels, including some that are sponsored by the Iranian opposition in exile.

Alfa Romeo to return to the US

Alfa Romeo has decided to return to the North American market! I had an Alfa in High School, it was a great car right up until that moment where it caught on fire and stopped working. I have been waiting for this moment for like 7 years now, every now and then this story would surraface and turn out to be just speculation. But this is for real, i think, so bring it!

gas prices close the schools!?!?!

Well, now I have seen it all. I know of the snow day and the teachers work day; but the cost of gas day? When I was in high school the price of gas was 87 cents and we never had any days off of school due to the price of petrol. oh how the times have changed.

Latest Gas Price Victims: School Buses

POSTED: 5:26 pm EDT May 1, 2006
UPDATED: 5:51 pm EDT May 1, 2006

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The high price of diesel fuel for school buses meant children in one Tennessee school system got a holiday Monday - their second in a row.

Some 3,800 youngsters got Friday and Monday off because of the action taken by Dallas Smith, superintendent of Rhea County schools in east Tennessee, to ease transportation spending.

"That kind of situation is probably the most extreme I have heard," said Mike Martin, executive director of the National Association for Pupil Transportation, based in Albany, N.Y., and a spokesman for the Washington-based School Bus Information Council.

Martin described the price of diesel, which has risen above $2.80 in the East and to more than $3 a gallon on the West Coast, as a "huge problem for not only public sector but private sector operators as well."

No other Tennessee systems have canceled classes in response to fuel costs.

The Rhea County closings were not authorized by the state, said Department of Education spokeswoman Rachel Woods.

Smith, however, said state education officials had announced previously that extra snow days could be used if fuel prices rose.

School Board Chairman Harold McCawley said the two-day closing was justified.

"Rhea County is a long county, 34 miles from end to end," McCawley said. "It's just a huge savings of fuel."

Rhea County Finance Director Brad Harris said county schools spent $14,000 on fuel in March, compared to $7,800 in March 2005. He said fiscal year to-date-spending was up from $68,000 to $102,500.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue asked his state's public schools to close for two days in September to conserve fuel when Hurricane Rita threatened to shut down refineries. Perdue has "no regrets," spokeswoman Heather Hedrick said Friday.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Who Killed the Electric Car

ha ha I knew it. Cheap electric cars should be the norm by now, were it not for the brave actions of some nameless detriot auto executivies. I really want to see this film, it's set to be released June 28th.

http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tix...

Who Killed the Electric Car?

Discovery[WHOKI]
2005 91 min
Directed By: Chris Paine
New York Premiere

With rising oil prices and expanding greenhouse gases, who wouldn't want an eco-friendly, non-polluting car? Apparently just about everybody who has the power to put such a vehicle on the market and keep it there. In the early 1990's, the state of California forced car manufacturers to develop nonpolluting vehicles, setting off a decade of electric-car mania among a certain niche of consumers…and electric-car abhorrence among the automobile and oil companies. Who Killed the Electric Car? takes a lively look at all those involved with these now defunct vehicles. The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival but has since been reedited, follows the six-year journey of a prototype electric vehicle. Our filmmakers are sleuths in an Agatha Christie mystery, shaking down all the usual suspects in order to determine exactly what went wrong along the way. Was it the car itself? The automobile company in question cited a lack of consumer interest, thereby forcing the California state government to abandon its stringent emissions rules. But when the car was pulled off the assembly line and out of showrooms in the early part of this decade, was it really the consumers who were to blame? Who Killed the Electric Car? is a potent examination of what happens in the corridors of power and what those who hold the purse strings will do in the interest of maintaining the status quo. All we can hope for at this point is that someday the electric car will make a comeback. With rising oil prices and expanding greenhouse gases, who wouldn't want an eco-friendly, non-polluting car? Apparently just about everybody who has the power to put such a vehicle on the market and keep it there.

- Nancy Schafer

How much is gas in Saudi Arabia?

Wow, that's a real kick in the head. 60 cents a gallon?!?! oh good lord..

Saudi Arabia King Cuts Gasoline Prices 25 Percent

Want Cheap Gas? Head To Saudi Arabia

(May 2, 2006)--With gasoline prices at historic highs in the United States and some other Western countries, Saudi King Abdullah is slashing gasoline prices in his country by about
25 percent.

The drop in prices means Saudis will pay the rough equivalent of 65 cents a gallon for gas and a Saudi government statement says the decrease will reach 30 percent by year's end.

The big reduction in gasoline prices in the world's largest oil-producing nation was announced as prices in oil importing nations reached record levels and oil company profits soared to all-time highs.

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States now tops $3. in some areas.

Saudi Arabia has the world's largest known reserves of crude oil and is the current largest oil producer.



Monday, May 01, 2006

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — With gasoline prices at historic highs in the United States and some other Western countries, Saudi King Abdullah issued a decree Sunday lowering domestic gasoline prices by about 25 percent immediately. According to a government statement, the decrease was to reach 30 percent by year's end.

The drop in prices means Saudis now will be paying 60 halalahs per liter of regular gasoline, or about 60 U.S. cents a gallon. The price of super drops to about 76 U.S. cents a gallon. There are 100 halalahs in the Saudi riyal, which is worth about 26 U.S. cents.

The statement said the king issued the decree to ease the "cost of living burden on Saudi citizens." The big reduction in gasoline prices in the world's largest oil producing nation was announced as prices in oil importing nations reached record levels and oil company profits soared to all-time highs.

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States now is above U.S. $3 in some regions.